GROOVIN’ IN THE PARK 2014 A SMASHING SUCCESS

On a picture perfect summer day in Queens, NY, thousands of music lovers took up early positions at the Roy Wilkins Park to see Groovin’ In The Park, a premium concert featuring an impressive lineup of music talent, mainly from the world of reggae. A huge magnet for the near capacity crowd was reggae icon Marcia Griffiths who is celebrating fifty years in the music business and who had brought along a powerful army of veterans to help her mark this musical milestone. Among her friends – Bob Andy, Judy Mowatt, Ken Boothe, who replaced an ailing John Holt at the last minute, Tony Gregory and Lady G.

The show opened early Sunday afternoon with a rising stars section that featured Congo Brainz, Kamsha, Tasha T, Faraji and Ky-enie who all delivered stellar performances. This was followed by a dazzling and jovial performance by L.U.S.T.- Lukie D, Thriller U, Singing Melody and Tony Curtis. Marcia and her friends performed afterwards and blew the audience away with an unending catalogue of popular and cherished classics. Up next was Chronixx who is still relatively new to the New York audience and he was warmly received as he belted out a list of popular hits including ‘Smile Jamaica’ and ‘Behind Curtain”. The park transformed to wonderland when reggae luminary Beres Hammond took to the stage and crooned his first note, electrifying the evening with hit after hit. He was joined for a few hot minutes by hit machine Shaggy and absolute musical magic reigned. The magic was sustained further into the cool summer night as Australian pop duo Air Supply took over from Beres, pounding the park with their chart-topping sing-along list of love songs.

“This show is simply amazing and its great to see our Caribbean people enjoying it all in peace, love and unity”, Yvette Clarke, US Congresswoman from Brooklyn said. Clarke had come out with her mom Una and a few friends to enjoy the Sunday concert, and to bring congressional proclamations for several of the veteran reggae artists whose collective contribution to the genre spans almost 300 years.

Roy Wilkins Park was transformed into a luxury zone with music lovers having a choice of three sections. The general admission section offered a full view of the concert loaded with a dazzling array of food, beverage and chunks of Jamaican culture. The VIP section provided attendees with front row seats to the concert, plus food, drinks included and many other thoughtful considerations such as luxury lavatories. The VVIP was the ultimate in concert luxury. Those who were there could inhale the concert at their own leisure from a plush, elevated gazebo that was fully catered with gourmet treats.

Pretty much everyone agreed that the event was a special moment in time- a fun-filled family day loaded with positive vibes, mouthwatering foods and mesmerizing music.